Developing Effective Municipal Housing Plans

Transcription

DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE
MUNICIPAL HOUSING PLANS
A Guide for Nonprofits and Advocates on
Implementing the New Jersey Supreme Court’s
March 2015 Decision on Fair Share Housing
— MAY 2015 —
This report is funded by Together
North Jersey, an initiative funded in part through a Sustainable
Communities Regional Planning Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The work that provided the basis for this report was supported by funding under an award from the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development. The substance and findings of the work are dedicated
to the public. The authors of the report are solely responsible for the accuracy
of the data, statements and interpretations contained in this document.
Such statements and interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views of
Together North Jersey Steering Committee or its individual members or any
other agency or instrumentality of the Government.
Thanks and Acknowledgements to our contributors:
David N. Kinsey
Vito Gallo
Fair Share Housing Center
Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey staff
Design & Layout by: SixThirteen Creative
Contents
Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................... 2
Glossary .............................................................................................................................................................. 3
The Mount Laurel Doctrine, Fair Housing Act, and COAH:
A Brief History, 1971 - 2015 ........................................................................................................................... 4
The Supreme Court’s March 2015 Decision ...................................................................................................... 7
Affordable Housing Need and Municipal Fair Share Housing Obligations .................................................. 8
Preparing a Housing Element and Fair Share Plan ......................................................................................... 11
Options for Municipalities to Satisfy Their Affordable Housing Obligations ............................................... 12
Key Principles, Rules, and Incentives in Developing Municipal Housing Plans ............................................ 16
Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Funds and Development Fees Update ............................................... 19
Participating in Municipal Fair Share Housing Planning: Action Steps ........................................................ 19
Impact of Affordable Housing on Communities and People’s Lives .............................................................. 20
Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................................... 20
Introduction
IN A MILESTONE DECISION, THE NEW JERSEY SUPREME ON MARCH 10, 2015 DECLARED
THE NEW JERSEY COUNCIL ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING (“COAH”) TO BE “MORIBUND”
AND RETURNED ENFORCEMENT OF THE FAIR HOUSING ACT AND THE MOUNT LAUREL
DOCTRINE TO NEW JERSEY’S TRIAL COURTS. Coming after more than a decade of delays,
false starts, and litigation, the decision reaffirms the Mount Laurel Doctrine on municipal
affordable housing obligations and ushers in a new era of intense fair share housing planning
and, hopefully, affordable housing production. This guide aims to help nonprofits and advocates
understand and participate in this process, as municipalities, builders, planners, nonprofits,
advocates, and citizens strive to prepare and adopt updated municipal housing elements and
fair share plans, create realistic housing opportunities, and obtain court determinations of
municipal fair share housing obligations and approvals of compliance plans.
This guide begins with a brief history of the Mount Laurel Doctrine, its origins, achievements,
and role in the production of affordable housing in New Jersey over the past 45 years, and
provides some facts on housing built and affordable housing needs. Next the guide explains
the Supreme Court’s decision in In re N.J.A.C. 5:96 and 5:97, 221 N.J. 1 (2015), its background,
key rulings, and process, guidance, and standards established for updating municipal housing
plans. Determining municipal fair share housing obligations is a critical step in housing
planning; the guide explains how the Supreme Court envisioned that these numbers would
be established and presents an initial proposed set of constitutional housing obligations for
1999-2025 prepared by Fair Share Housing Center, assisted by David N. Kinsey, PhD, FAIP, PP.
More than one-half of New Jersey’s municipalities have adopted housing elements and fair
share plans; all need to be at least updated and most will undergo substantial revision and
amendment. The guide describes the purpose, required content, and typical process for preparing
and adopting these plans. Municipalities can create affordable housing opportunities that
satisfy their fair share housing obligations in several ways. The guide identifies the principal
compliance mechanism options, their key features, and advantages and disadvantages, and
uses case studies of actual developments to illustrate the most common mechanisms.
While COAH may be “moribund” and many of its post-1999 rules invalidated by the courts,
several important principles and rules were established that should be considered in preparing
municipal housing elements and fair share plan and providing incentives for compliance.
This guide highlights several of these key principles and rules. Securing adequate financial
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resources for housing development is always a challenge in ensuring that local housing plans
are more than “paper plans”; the guide also provides an update on municipal affordable
housing trust funds — a significant resource available for the collection and disbursement of
development fees.
To assist nonprofits and advocates in participating in fair share housing planning at the
municipal level, this guide spells out what steps municipalities must take, opportunities for
public comment and influence, and judicial proceedings that may be anticipated. Finally, to
underscore the crucial point that decent, affordable housing helps communities, families, and
individuals in myriad ways, the guide concludes with some findings of recent research and
cases studies of the impacts of affordable housing.
GLOSSARY
Several words and phrases will be used throughout this guide and are defined here:
Affordable Housing Housing whose cost (gross rents,
Low and Moderate Income Housing Affordable housing
including utilities, or mortgage payment, insurances,
occupied by and limited to income-qualified low and
property taxes, and homeowner fees) is less than 30% of
moderate income households
gross monthly income, adjusted for household size, for
rental housing and 28% of gross monthly income, adjusted
Moderate Income A gross monthly income between
for household size, for ownership units
50% to 80% of the regional median household income,
adjusted for household size
Fair Share Housing The portion of a region’s housing
needs for which a municipality must create realistic housing
Section 811 Provides funding for the development and
opportunities for low and moderate income households
operation of supportive rental housing for very low- and
extremely low-income adults with disabilities. http://portal.
Housing Choice Vouchers (a.k.a. Tenant-based Section 8)
hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/housing/
– Portable monetary subsidies for very low- and extremely
mfh/progdesc/disab811
low-income households which to be used for payment of
rent. http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/topics/
Section 202 Provides funding for the development and
housing_choice_voucher_program_section_8
operation of supportive rental housing for very low-income
Low Income A gross monthly income less than 50% of
the regional median household income, adjusted for
household size
elderly households. http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/
HUD?src=/program_offices/housing/mfh/progdesc/eld202
Very Low Income A gross monthly income less than 30%
of the regional median household income, adjusted for
household size
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THE MOUNT LAUREL DOCTRINE,
FAIR HOUSING ACT, AND COAH:
A Brief History, 1971-2015
The Mount Laurel Doctrine, based on the New Jersey
State Constitution, requires all municipalities, and
state agencies with land use authority, to plan, zone
for, and take affirmative actions to create realistic
opportunities for their “fair share” of their region’s
present and prospective need for housing affordable
to low and moderate income people. First articulated
by the New Jersey Supreme Court in two landmark
planning and civil rights decisions, Mount Laurel I
(1975) and Mount Laurel II (1983), the Mount Laurel
Doctrine prohibits economic discrimination against
the poor by the state and municipalities in their
exercise of their land use powers.
This doctrine on exclusionary zoning and affordable
housing arose in part from efforts by the longtime
black community of Mount Laurel Township
(Burlington County) to block being forcibly removed
from their once rural community as it underwent
rapid suburbanization in the 1960s. When Mount
Laurel Township stymied the attempt of a local
nonprofit to develop 36 affordable garden apartments,
the residents organized and, assisted by Camden
Regional Legal Services attorneys, began the Mount
Laurel litigation marathon in 1971. Civil rights and
housing advocates, as well as developers, pursued
similar litigation in central and northern New Jersey
as well in the 1970s-1980s, which all culminated in
Mount Laurel II in 1983.
In direct response to the Mount Laurel II decision,
in 1985 the Legislature and Governor enacted the
Fair Housing Act, which established COAH as the
state agency responsible for calculating and
allocating the need for affordable housing and
reviewing and approving municipal plans to satisfy
local fair share housing obligations. COAH developed
and implemented its fair share housing calculation
and allocation methodology, regularly adopted
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procedural and substantive rules, and reviewed and
approved municipal housing elements and fair share
plans in two rounds or cycles, from 1997-1993 and
1993-1999. More than one-half of New Jersey’s
municipalities participated in the COAH process,
while some non-participating municipalities were
sued for alleged non-compliance with Mount Laurel
and other municipalities opted to have Mount Laurel
compliance determined by trial courts.
64,744 Total New Affordable Housing Units
Built in New Jersey, 1980-2014
Counted by NJ COAH
Assisted Living
Residence
Accessory
Apartments
0%
2%
Other
1%
Supportive &
Special Needs
12%
Affordable Units
in Inclusionary
Developments
28%
100%
AffordableMunicipally
Sponsored
57%
Prepared by David N. Kinsey, PhD, FAICP, NJPP, Kinsey & Hand, Planning,
Princeton, NJ, with data provided by NJCOAH, December 2014,
from data recorded by municipalities and reported to NJDCA.
As its second round came to a close in 1999, COAH
paused, and delayed proposing Third Round rules and
fair share obligations until 2004. After the Appellate
Division invalidated critical portions of these rules
in 2007, COAH adopted its second iteration of Third
Round Rules in 2008, which the Appellate Division
again significantly invalidated in 2010. Again,
hundreds of municipalities engaged in fair share
housing planning and participated in both iterations
of the COAH Third Round process, with more than
300 municipal housing elements and fair share plans
submitted to COAH in the late 2000s. And again,
developers and public interest litigants sued some
non-participating municipalities for alleged noncompliance with Mount Laurel and other
municipalities sought trial court jurisdiction for
adjudication of Mount Laurel compliance.
Since Mount Laurel II in 1983, a significant amount of
different types of affordable housing has been built
in New Jersey, totaling about 92,000 housing units.
About 65,000 of these units can be attributed to
implementation of the Mount Laurel Doctrine, while
the remainder was developed mostly in urban
municipalities not under COAH or trial court jurisdiction
under Mount Laurel. In the early years of Mount Laurel
implementation, most of the built affordable housing
was developed by the private sector, in mixed income
inclusionary developments. More recently, 100%
affordable housing developments, often sponsored by
municipalities, and often developed in partnership
with nonprofit housing developers, have become more
popular with municipalities and now constitute more
than half of the built affordable units counted by COAH.
Supportive and special needs housing, typically but not
always developed, owned, and operated by nonprofit
organizations, has also become an increasingly popular
compliance mechanism. It is the third most significant
type of affordable housing built, with almost 8,000
“units,” in part because COAH recognizes the bedroom
as the unit of credit. More than one-half of these “units”
have been in different types of group homes; other types
include residential health care facilities, boarding
homes, transitional housing for the homeless, and
permanent supportive housing.
CONVERSIONS/ADAPTIVE REUSE
of Old Schools, Factories, etc.
Project Name: Springside Apartments
Project Address: 1508 Mount Holly Road (Route 541),
Burlington Twp., Burlington County, NJ
Developer: joint undertaking of MEND, Conifer
Realty LLC and the Township of Burlington
Year Completed: October 2013
Total Units: 74
Type & Tenure: Rental Apartments
Affordable Housing Set-Aside:
15 units for Frail Elderly (age 62+), 43 units for Elderly
(55+), 16 units for mentally ill adults (18+) requiring
supportive services
Funding Sources: NJHMFA Mortgage, Municipal
Housing Trust Funds, Burlington County HOME Funds,
Historic Tax Credits, Low Income Housing Tax Credits
Description: A three story former grammar school
built 1915/1927/1952 and closed in 2007 because
of functional obsolescence and asbestos concerns
was redeveloped with 74 apartments for low/mod
income tenants
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AGE-RESTRICTED SENIOR SUPPORTIVE Rental Housing
PRINCETON COMMUNITY HOUSING (PCH), a nonprofit housing corporation has collaborated with Princeton in the
purchase and renovation of housing units on Shirley Court and John Street. Princeton utilized the municipal WriteDown/Buy-Down Affordable Program to fund the purchase of market rate housing. PCH renovated, took ownership
and presently manages two moderate income rentals on Shirley Court and one low income rental on John Street.
Through the use of municipal trust fund dollars and other funding sources, PCH will convert vacant and foreclosed
townhouses into livable, vibrant, affordable homes.
Borough leaders recognized the potential of
the underutilized properties and entered into
a partnership with PCH make the homes
available to income-eligible families.
VERY LOW INCOME ELDERLY
Project Name: Harriet Bryan House
Project Address: 310 Elm Road in Princeton
Developer: Princeton Community Housing
Year Completed: 2007
Total Units: 67
Type & Tenure: Rental
Affordable Housing Set Aside: 67 one-bedroom
apartments for very low income elderly residents
Funding Sources: HUD Project Rental Assistance
Program supplies rent subsidies, HUD-202 grant,
Federal Home Loan Bank, Municipal Funding and
Balanced Housing Program.
Description: offers its residents a Congregate
Care Program, providing a daily hot meal, light
housekeeping, grocery shopping, and personal
care as needed.
Fact: In 1938, Princeton was one of the first
communities in New Jersey to construct housing
through the use of federal funds. The former
Borough of Princeton created the Housing Authority
of the Borough of Princeton (HABOP) in order to
construct low- and moderate-income housing on
Franklin and Maple Terraces. Additional HABOP
rental developments were constructed in the Post
WWII era and in more recent decades.
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“Princeton has a long-standing
commitment to building affordable
housing, a commitment that dates to
the creation of the Princeton Borough
Housing Authority in 1938 and Princeton
Community Housing in 1967, decades
before the creation of COAH. We value
having a diversity of housing types
that meet the needs of residents from a
range of incomes. But as cost-of-living
expenses rise, many longtime residents
find it increasingly difficult to afford to
live in town. If we are to keep our present
economic diversity, we need to do more to
provide affordable options.”
— Liz Lempert, Mayor of Princeton
THE SUPREME COURT’S
March 2015 Decision
COAH had approved (68 municipalities) and (b) those
“participating” municipalities that had filed a Third
Round plan after 2008 that was still pending at COAH
(314 municipalities). The Court did not discuss those
municipalities whose Mount Laurel compliance was
already engaged before the trial courts as defendants
in exclusionary zoning and declaratory judgment actions
(65± municipalities).
The Supreme Court’s decision arose from litigation over
three iterations of rules and fair share methodologies
proposed and adopted by COAH since the putative
beginning of its Third Round, in 1999. The 1985 Fair
Housing Act had directed COAH to determine housing
regions and municipal fair share housing obligations,
based on their region’s projected needs for affordable To establish an orderly compliance review and approval
housing. Twice COAH performed this duty, in 1994 and process by trial courts, the Supreme Court provided a
1999, but in 2004 and again in 2008 COAH’s rules relied 90-day period before its decision would take effect, on
on a different methodology it called “growth share,” June 8, 2015. The Court also established a 30-day deadline,
which determined housing need based on jobs and July 8, 2015, for municipalities that had been in the COAH
residential growth. Fair Share Housing Center, the process to file a declaratory judgment and seek judicial
Coalition for Affordable Housing and the Environment, review of their fair share housing plans by trial courts.
the New Jersey Builders Assocaition, and others twice On and after July 9, 2015, Fair Share Housing Center and
challenged the validity of the rules, and twice the
Appellate Division invalidated key portions and
“… previous methodologies employed in the
remanded to COAH to adopt revised rules, in 2007 and
First and Second Round Rules should be used
2010. The Network participated in the appeals as a
member of the Coalition and as amicus curiae. In 2013 to establish present and prospective statewide
the Supreme Court affirmed the Appellate Division’s
and regional housing need … .”
decision and directed COAH to adopt new rules, based
on the Prior Round methodology, within five months.
After further delay, COAH proposed new rules in April other interested parties can file a noncompliance action
2014, not based on the Prior Round methodology, but against a municipality. Towns with Third Round
the COAH board reached an impasse at its October 2014 approvals from COAH must file a declaratory action by
meeting and failed to adopt any Third Round rules. In July 8, 2015, updating, amending, and supplementing
accordance with the Supreme Court’s order, Fair Share their fair share housing plans and seeking immunity
Housing Center filed a motion to enforce litigant’s rights, from further litigation while their plans are under
asking the Court to transfer responsibility for review by the trial courts, or face litigation alleging
implementing and enforcing the Fair Housing Act and noncompliance. Participating towns must also file a
declaratory action by July 8, 2015, and may request up
Mount Laurel Doctrine to trial courts.
to five months to update, amend, and supplement their
The Supreme Court’s unanimous decision reaffirmed fair share housing plans and seek initial immunity from
the Mount Laurel Doctrine, declared COAH to be further litigation while their plans are under preparation
“moribund,” and created a process for municipalities and review by the trial courts, or face litigation alleging
to “… subject themselves to judicial review for noncompliance.
constitutional compliance, as was the case before the
Fair Housing Act was enacted.” The Court recognized
two kinds of municipalities: (a) those that had filed a
Third Round fair share housing plan with COAH that
The Supreme Court stated unambiguously how Third
Round fair share housing obligations were to be
determined: “… previous methodologies employed in the
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First and Second Round Rules should be used to establish
present and prospective statewide and regional housing
need … .” The Supreme Court assigned the trial courts the
responsibility for actually determining fair share housing
obligations: “The parties should demonstrate to the [trial]
court computations of housing need and municipal
obligations based on those [Prior Round] methodologies.”
AFFORDABLE HOUSING NEED
and Municipal Fair Share
Housing Obligations
How much affordable housing for low and moderate
income households is needed in New Jersey and where?
These questions can be answered in two different ways:
(a) calculate the number of households who spend too
much of their income on housing costs or (b) project
future housing needs for a selected target year for a
target group of households in targeted communities.
New Jersey currently has a total of about 3.2 million
households, of which 43%, i.e., about 1.4 million households,
have incomes below 80% of median household income
and are considered low and moderate income households
under Mount Laurel and the Fair Housing Act. The current
median household income in New Jersey is $70,165, which
means that on a statewide basis households with annual
incomes less than $56,132 are considered low and moderate
income, with appropriate adjustments for household size
(households with more people have a higher median
income, households with fewer people have a lower
median income), county, and region.
less disposable income to spend on food, transportation,
health care, clothing, and other essential of daily life. By
this metric, 72% of New Jersey’s low and moderate income
households need affordable housing — that is, 875,310
New Jersey low and moderate income households are
cost-burdened and a critical part of the broader context
of housing need. However, COAH excluded cost-burdened
households and their affordable housing needs from its
calculations of municipal housing obligations under the
Fair Housing Act, a determination upheld by the Supreme
Court in its March 2015 decision.
Consequently, a different approach to defining housing
need has been used in New Jersey under the Mount Laurel
Doctrine. This approach projects the new housing needs
of anticipated future new low and moderate income
households in New Jersey. Under this fair share concept,
housing need in the future is projected by region and
then allocated fairly to each region’s municipalities. This
component of housing need is called “prospective need”
under Mount Laurel and the Fair Housing Act.
The parties should demonstrate to
the court computations of housing need
and municipal obligations based on those
[Prior Round] methodologies.
One standard approach to calculating housing need is
to determine the share of household income devoted
to housing costs, whether a mortgage, taxes, etc. for
homeowners, or rent and utilities for renters.
In addition to the need for new affordable housing for
projected new households, low and moderate income
households currently living in substandard and
overcrowded housing often need housing rehabilitation
assistance in order to live in decent housing. This
component of housing need is called “present need”
under Mount Laurel and the Fair Housing Act.
Households who spend more than 30% of their income
on rental housing costs are considered to be “costburdened” and their housing is not considered “affordable,”
under longstanding, nationally accepted standards. For
homeownership, the standard is a maximum of 28% of
household income. Consequently, these households have
A third component of housing need is the “prospective
need” projected in the past that may not yet have been
satisfied and is a continuing municipal responsibility.
This component of housing need is called “prior round
obligation” and was calculated by COAH in 1994 for the
period 1987-1999, its First and Second Rounds, also
8
known as the “Prior Round.” The Supreme Court’s March
2015 opinion stated unambiguously: “…our decision
today does not eradicate the prior round obligations…”
Using the COAH Prior Round methodology implemented
successfully in the 1980s-1990s, as directed by the
Supreme Court, nonprofit Fair Share Housing Center,
assisted by David N. Kinsey, PhD, FAICP, PP, calculated and
in April 2015 presented fair share housing obligations
for all three components for all 565 New Jersey
municipalities for the Third Round, defined as 1999-2025.
A 12-page “Municipal Summary, Fair Share Housing
Obligations, 2015,” prepared by Fair Share Housing Center,
is listed and available in the Resources section at the end
of this publication. At this point, no court has yet accepted
these, or any other, Third Round fair share calculations,
and all parties will be able to present arguments about
what the calculations should be over the next few months.
Fair Share Housing Center estimated the statewide total
of “present need” of New Jersey’s municipalities at about
62,000 housing units, as of 2010, that needed rehabilitation
and were occupied by low and moderate income
households. For the second component, Fair Share
Housing Center reprinted COAH’s previous calculations
of Prior Round Obligation, a total of about 86,000 units
allocated by region among the state’s municipalities. For
the third component, Fair Share Housing Center projected
and allocated on a regional basis, and then calculated
the net capped (20% and 1,000 unit caps) prospective
need for all 565 New Jersey municipalities during 19992025 at a statewide total of about 200,000 new affordable
housing units.
SPECIAL NEEDS Housing
SMALL SCALE DISABLED HOUSING
MANUFACTURED HOUSING
Project Name: Pine Tree Manufactured Home Park
Project Address: 232 Highway 35 South,
Eatontown, NJ 07724
Developer: Affordable Housing Alliance
Year Completed: March 2013
Total Units: 130
Type & Tenure: Manufactured Housing
Affordable Housing Set Aside: 130
Funding Sources: Funding included Eatontown
municipal contribution, DCA-Balanced Housing,
Neighborworks America, Robinhood Fund, Hurricane
Sandy NJ Relief Fund, and private financing.
Description: Acquisition and reconstruction of a
120 unit manufactured home park with upgrades
to include 30 new units and code compliant
foundations. New water and natural gas system
including multiple on site hydrant systems. Pilot
solar panel services on five units, new community
center, laundry and children’s playground.
Under the Prior Round methodology, certain qualifying
municipalities, designated by the New Jersey Department
of Community Affairs for additional state financial
assistance as “urban aid municipalities,” are not allocated
a Prior Round Obligation or a Prospective Need obligation.
Many already have significant income-restricted
affordable housing built over the past several decades.
They are not, however, exempted from their present need
responsibilities. Also, under the Prior Round methodology
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some other municipalities have a zero Prospective Need
obligation due to projected “filtering,” what COAH called
a secondary source of housing supply. Both types of
municipalities may nevertheless choose to undertake
local initiatives to create new affordable housing
opportunities, through redevelopment, inclusionary
zoning, and partnerships with nonprofit developers,
recognizing that many of their current and likely future
residents are cost-burdened because their housing costs
exceed accepted national standards.
INFILL HOUSING
Project Name: The Abbett Avenue Apartments
Project Address: 38-42 Abbett Avenue, Morristown
Developer: Homeless Solutions Inc.
Total Units: 12
Type & Tenure: Rental apartments
Affordable Housing Set Aside: 12 unit for families
Funding Sources: Low Income Housing Tax Credit.
County, HOME funds, privately raised
Description: The housing development is located in a
New Jersey “Smart Growth” and a Transit Village zone,
supporting the State Development & Redevelopment
Plan. The site is within walking distance to jobs, shopping
and amenities, and mass transit options (the Morristown
train station and five different bus routes). The design
of the buildings substantially exceeds the Green
Building requirements of New Jersey affordable housing
government programs. The apartments are Energy Star
rated, with selected roofing, appliances, and high efficiency
heating and cooling systems. Low VOC paints and caulks
were used, bamboo flooring (formaldehyde free), linoleum
(instead of vinyl), Hardi Plank cement board siding, and
water-saving toilets, faucets and shower heads are among
the other green features. In 2009, the project received a
Governor’s Conference Excellence in Housing Award for
“Outstanding Affordable Housing Development.”
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While the COAH Prior Round methodology specifically
excludes people who live in group homes and other
facilities classified as “group quarters” by the U.S. Census
Bureau, the demand for supportive and special needs
housing far exceeds the supply in New Jersey. One way
to assess the need for supportive and special needs
housing is to recognize that currently the New Jersey
Department of Human Services provides housing
through state licensed beds or rental vouchers/subsidies
to approximately 15,000 individuals with serious mental
illness or developmental disabilities, while 145,000 very
low income New Jersey residents (living on less than
$800 monthly) who are blind or disabled receive
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits from
federal Social Security. Furthermore, people living in
state and county institutions will need housing in the
future. Also, an estimated 1,500 people are chronically
homeless in New Jersey, while the most recent 2014
Point In Time count identified 13,900 people experiencing
homelessness on the night of January 28, 2014.
Finally, natural disasters, such as Superstorm Sandy
in 2012, exacerbate housing needs by quickly reducing
and affecting the supply of decent affordable housing.
For example, nearly all public housing authorities in
New Jersey experienced at least some roof damage
and flooding from Sandy. While not all occupied by
low and moderate income households, approximately
40,500 homeowners’ primary residences and 15,600
rental units sustained “severe” or “moderate” damage
from Sandy, according to the Federal Emergency
Management Agency.
PREPARING A HOUSING ELEMENT
and Fair Share Plan
Housing planning has been an integral, mandatory part
of local land use planning in New Jersey since enactment
of the Fair Housing Act, as municipalities must, under
the Municipal Land Use Law as amended by the Act in
1985, adopt a housing plan element of the master plan
in order to exercise the power to zone and regulate land
use. As defined by COAH, a “fair share plan” is the
document in which the municipality details specifically
the affirmative actions it will take to create a “realistic
opportunity” to satisfy its fair share housing obligations,
including proposed or adopted ordinances and resolutions.
The housing plan element is prepared and adopted by
the municipal planning board. Under COAH rules, the
municipal governing body must endorse the fair share
plan. In practice, typically a single document, a housing
element and fair share plan, is prepared and adopted by
the planning board and endorsed by the governing body.
The Fair Housing Act specifies the essential elements of
the municipal housing plan, which must be designed to
“achieve the goal of access to affordable housing to meet
present and prospective housing needs” and pay “particular attention to low and moderate income housing”:
• Inventory of the municipality’s housing stock,
including affordable housing and substandard
housing capable of being rehabilitated;
• Projection of the municipality’s housing stock,
including probable future low and moderate income
housing;
• Analysis of the municipality’s demographic
characteristics;
• Analysis of the municipality’s employment
characteristics;
• Determination of the municipality’s present and
prospective fair share for low and moderate income
housing and its capacity to accommodate its present
and prospective housing needs and;
• Consideration of the lands most appropriate for
construction of low and moderate income housing
and structures most appropriate for conversion and
rehabilitation for low and moderate income housing,
including land proposed by developers committed
to providing low and moderate income housing.
The housing plan must be prepared by a New Jersey
licensed professional planner, who conducts the required
analyses and surveys, in consultation and cooperation
with other municipal staff, professionals (e.g., attorney
and engineer), consultants, planning board members,
governing body members, developers, advocates, property
owners, and the public. At a minimum, the planning
board must give ten days published public notice of the
required public hearing on adoption, revision, or
amendment of the housing plan element, provide notice
to adjoining municipalities, and make available the
proposed plan for public review. At a minimum, a
governing body must give ten days published public
notice of the required public hearing, and direct notice
to affected property owners, of any proposed zoning
ordinance amendment to implement the housing plan
element. In practice, the housing element and fair share
plan is typically prepared as a single, integrated document,
discussed informally with and by the planning board
and governing body, and made available to the public in
draft form and adopted form at the municipal clerk’s
office, and often posted on the municipal website.
A typical plan details sites and projects slated to produce
affordable housing, provides maps locating sites and
portraying any site constraints, includes draft and
adopted zoning amendments, contains agreements with
developers and evidence of site plan and use variance
approvals, documents claimed credits for completed
affordable housing, and provides municipal revenue
projections, as well as funding and bonding
commitments, to support affordable housing activities.
Municipalities may be expected to build their 2015
housing elements and fair share plans on the base of
previously adopted plans, most dating from 2008. That
said, in many cases municipalities will need to work
with non-profits and others to find additional
opportunities and update their plans.
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OPTIONS FOR MUNICIPALITIES
to Satisfy their Affordable
Housing Obligations
is a likelihood-to the extent economic conditions allow-
Municipalities have several well-established options to
has in fact provided a realistic opportunity for the
their constitutional obligations. At the outset it is critical
obligation …, if it has not, then it has failed to satisfy it.”
established in Mount Laurel II in 1983 for determining
For all options, three ingredients are essential: (a) a
provided for satisfying the municipality’s fair share
use approvals, (b) a developer with capacity, and (c)
consider and adopt in their housing plans for satisfying
to recall the Supreme Court’s applicable standards
that the lower income housing will actually be
constructed.” Second, municipal compliance must be “…
determined solely on an objective basis: if the municipality
construction of its fair share …, it has met the Mount Laurel
compliance. First, a “realistic opportunity” must be
suitable site or property with permissive zoning or land
obligation, with “realistic” depending “… on whether there
adequate financial resources.
AGE-RESTRICTED HOUSING Including Assisted Living
Project Name: The Village at St. Peter’s Senior Housing (VASP)
Project Address: Pleasantville, New Jersey
Developer: Diocesan Housing Services Corporation of the Diocese of Camden (NJ), Inc
Total Units: 74
Type & Tenure: Rental Apartments with an affordable housing set-aside targeted
to seniors, 62 years and older, with incomes at or below 50 percent of the Area
Median Income (AMI).
Funding Sources: Combined the HUD-202 program with 4 percent tax credits
Description: This senior housing replaced a vacant convent and stimulated economic
development of surrounding businesses. The project won a 2012 Governor’s Housing
Conference award for Housing and Economic development because it led to new businesses that continue to thrive today.
The building’s exterior is complementary in style to the church’s Spanish Colonial architecture, retaining the historic fabric
of the neighborhood.
“Villages at St. Peter’s is a shining example of a true public-private partnership, representing many years of
coordination between local, state, and federal governments and private industry leaders to create affordable
homes for our seniors,” said DCA Acting Commissioner Richard E. Constable, III, who is Chair of the HMFA. “Not only
are the rents affordable, but the sponsorship by Diocesan Housing Services Corporation and Catholic Charities
ensures that the seniors residing here will have access to transportation services, meal programs and medical/
health programs on-site at no cost.”
12
1. Present Need – Rehabilitation: The present need
component of the fair share obligation signifies that
low and moderate income households are living in
substandard and overcrowded housing in the
municipality. To satisfy this need, most municipalities
establish, fund, and administer a local housing
rehabilitation program, using municipal staff,
consultants, or a county community development
housing improvement program. COAH rules importantly
require housing rehabilitation to be available to rental
properties that serve low and moderate income
households. COAH rules also provide that a municipality’s
present need can alternatively be satisfied through new
construction of affordable housing.
2. 100% Affordable (family or senior): The most popular
option, and the source of more than one-half of the built
affordable units counted by COAH, is 100% affordable
housing developments, developed by the private and
nonprofit sectors, often in partnership with
municipalities, and typically relying for substantial
equity on federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits
allocated on a competitive basis by the New Jersey
Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency and other
subsidies. Mostly developed as rental housing,
municipalities often support 100% affordable
developments by donating surplus land or buildings
ripe for conversion, as well as by providing negotiated
pubic subsidies from municipal housing trust funds,
bonding, and tax abatements.
This option is popular from the municipal perspective
for at least two reasons. First, COAH rules provide in
some circumstances for a rental bonus, up to a cap, so
that certain rental family affordable units count as two
credits towards the municipal housing obligation.
Second, 100% affordable housing makes unnecessary
the market rate units that underwrite inclusionary
development, enabling municipalities to minimize
population changes, including families with school-age
children, and increases in property taxes to support
increased municipal services and costs.
3. Inclusionary Development and Zoning: Mixed income
private sector development, including housing affordable
to low and moderate income households, is the second
most significant source of built affordable housing.
Inclusionary development typically involves a set-aside
of 20% of the total units as affordable housing in
homeownership projects and 15% of the total units in
rental projects; these percentages are the maximum
presumptive set-asides prescribed by COAH Second
Round rules. Sale or rental of the market-rate units
internally subsidizes the cost of income-restricted
affordable units. Set-asides can be lower or higher,
depending on the permitted densities, housing types,
and negotiations between a municipality and a
developer. The affordable units in these mixed income
developments, whether townhouses, apartments,
stacked flats, or small lot houses, should be
indistinguishable from the exterior and scattered among
the market-rate units.
Inclusionary development may be implemented through
zoning by establishment of a new zoning district that
requires or allows inclusionary development, depending
on the municipal objective, or by an overlay zone with
inclusionary provisions. Inclusionary development may
also be instituted as a compliance mechanism as part of
a municipally-adopted redevelopment or rehabilitation
plan, which acts as the zoning for a designated
redevelopment area. Inclusionary development need not
be new construction on a greenfield site; obsolete or
underutilized nonresidential structures can be converted
to residential use with an inclusionary component.
Inclusionary zoning is a prime example of incentive-based
affordable housing development, as the private sector
will respond to economically feasible densities and setasides on suitable, appropriately located sites.
4. Supportive and Special Needs Housing: Different
groups of people with low incomes have special needs
for a decent, supportive place to live, including: people
with mental illness and developmental disabilities,
people with adult onset physical disabilities, disabled
veterans, victims of domestic violence, youth aging out
13
HOMES FOR FAMILIES AND PEOPLE WITH
SPECIAL NEEDS Integrated Together
Project Name: Freedom Village at Hopewell Township
Project Address: 700 Heritage Court, Pennington
Developer: Project Freedom
Total Units: 72 units will be affordable to someone making less than 60 % of the area median income, and the units will be
marketed to persons who are disabled, as well as to the general population
Type & Tenure: Rental apartments
Affordable Housing Set-Aside: 52 units will be affordable to someone making less than 60 % of the area median income,
and the units will be marketed to persons who are disabled, as well as to the general population. 10 units to individuals
who are developmentally disabled, in cooperation with the Division of Developmental Disabilities and 10 units to those
individuals who come from the Division of Mental Health.
Funding Sources: HMFA has committed a first mortgage of $4.7 million to the project, as well as $1 million in financing
from the Special Needs Housing Trust Fund. The project will also receive $9.3 million in equity generated by the sale of
federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits. Other project funding includes $600,000 in Mercer County HOME funds and $1.4
million from the Federal Home Loan Bank. Additional financial assistance has also been provided through the Hopewell
Township Affordable Housing Trust Fund and a loan from TD Bank.
Description: The goal here is to create housing which can totally integrate the special needs individual and his family into
the mainstream of American living.
of foster care, and the homeless in need of permanent
5. Assisted Living Residences: An assisted living residence
subsequent practice, COAH recognized these specialized
Department of Health and Senior Services that provides
affordable housing. In COAH Prior Round rules and
housing types and others, which it formerly called
“alternative living arrangements,” as meeting fair share
obligations. About 12% of the built affordable units
counted by COAH are supportive and special needs
housing. Municipalities seeking to welcome such state-
licensed housing in their plans may provide land and/
or funding, acquire houses suitable for conversion to
group homes, amend zoning to make such housing
permitted uses, support use variances, negotiate a PILOT
(payment in lieu of taxes), and take other affirmative
steps to create this type of affordable housing that is
developed mostly, but not entirely by the nonprofit
sector. Two incentives for municipalities in COAH rules
have encouraged this housing type: first, the housing
is considered to be rentals that may qualify for rental
bonuses and second, the unit of credit against fair share
obligations is the bedroom.
14
is a specialized housing type licensed by the New Jersey
apartment style living and congregate dining and other
services, typically for older persons. Assisted living
residences can be developed under an inclusionary
model in which a percentage of the units are set-aside
for income-eligible low and moderate households. State
law on licensing assisted living residences developed
since 2001 requires the reservation of 10% of the beds
for Medicaid-eligible persons and provides that any beds
so reserved shall be recognized as fulfilling low and
moderate income housing requirements in municipal
ordinances. Municipalities can provide for in their plans
and encourage development of inclusionary assisted
living residences by adopting permissive zoning and
taking other affirmative steps.
6. Accessory Apartments: An accessory apartment is a
self-contained, independent housing unit created either
within an existing house, through conversion of an
existing structure attached to a house, or by an addition
to the house. Municipalities can encourage and make
possible the creation of affordable accessory apartments
by first amending zoning to permit a second dwelling
unit on an otherwise single family lot and by providing
financial assistance to homeowners to undertake the
necessary construction or renovations. This is not,
however, a very common, productive compliance
mechanism, as COAH has counted only 111 affordable
accessory apartments created.
7. Redevelopment: Redevelopment under New Jersey’s
Local Redevelopment and Housing Law is not an
affordable housing type, but rather an increasing
popular mechanism for rebuilding communities by
transforming distressed areas, a process that encourages
available sites that may be developed to include
affordable housing. Municipalities may designate
redevelopment or rehabilitation areas that meet
statutory criteria, then prepare and adopt redevelopment
or rehabilitation plans, either with or without the
possibility of condemnation to facilitate site assembly
by a municipally designated redeveloper.
8. Market to Affordable Program: COAH rules authorize
credits against fair share obligations, up to a cap, for
municipal programs that purchase existing marketrate housing and sell or rent the housing, once
rehabilitated, if necessary, to low and moderate income
households. Municipalities subsidize the difference
between the cost to acquire and renovate the marketrate unit and the restricted price or rent of the housing
for income eligible households.
9. Expiring Controls: COAH Third Round rules also
authorize credits against fair share obligations for
extensions of the term of affordability controls on
existing affordability housing built after April 1, 1980,
once rehabilitated, if necessary. Affordable housing
developed under COAH’s First Round rules were
generally subject to 20-year minimum terms of
affordability controls, later extended to a 30 year
maximum in COAH’s Second Round rules and in 2004
changed to a minimum of 30 years in the Housing
Affordability Controls rules (UHAC) adopted by the
New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency.
This means that controls on affordable units built in
the mid-1980s generally began to expire in the mid
2000s, while 30-year controls generally began to expire
in the 2010s. Municipalities may extend the term of
controls through agreement with the housing owner
or by other means and options authorized by COAH
rules, local ordinances, and the deed restrictions on
affordable ownership and rental units. While this
mechanism does not increase the supply of affordable
housing, it does ensure that affordable units continue
to be available only to income-eligible households.
HOMEOWNERSHIP New Construction
Project Name: Summit Interfaith & Community Build
Project Address: 39 Morris Ave. Summit
Developer: Collaborative effort between the City of
Summit, the Summit Affordable Housing Corporation and
Morris Habitat for Humanity Habitat of Morris County
Year Completed: Winter 2011
Total Units: 6
Type & Tenure: Homeowner Condominiums
Affordable Housing Set Aside: 6 Families
Funding Sources: The city contributed $530,000 from
their Affordable Housing Trust Fund for property acquisition.
The remaining $865,400 was raised through the collaborative
efforts of the Summit Affordable Housing Corporation, Morris Habitat and faith-based congregations from in and around
the Summit area through grants, donations of materials and
services, and various fund-raising event.
15
KEY PRINCIPLES, RULES,
AND INCENTIVES in Developing
Municipal Housing Share Plans
In developing a new, amended, revised, or updated 2015
municipal housing element and fair share plan, all
participants in the plan preparation, adoption, and review
process must be mindful of certain well-established
principles and rules. While in the absence of a functioning
COAH there is no single valid set of Third Round rules, the
Fair Housing Act, including its 2008 amendments, provides
several clear statutory requirements, while COAH Second
Round (i.e., Prior Round) rules (N.J.A.C. 5:93) and certain
Third Round rules that have not been invalidated (N.J.A.C.
5:94 and N.J.A.C. 5:97) also establish important, applicable
BROWNFIELD INCLUSIONARY TRANSIT
ORIENTED RENTAL REDEVELOPMENT
Estling Village is a 100-unit privately developed
rental inclusionary development in Denville, Morris
County, at 30 Estling Lake Road, in sight and walking
distance of NJ Transit’s Denville train station.
Developed by JMF Properties, LLC, the brownfield
site was formerly a manufacturing building and in
arrears in its property taxes. Currently (2015) under
construction after environmental remediation, the
townhouse style apartments have a 15% set-side and
will provide 15 affordable rental units.
16
standards. These rules also provide incentives to
municipalities that influence municipal choices of
compliance mechanisms. A non-exhaustive list of these
principles, rules, and incentives follows. Ultimately, which
standards trial courts will apply in their reviews of Third
Round compliance plans will emerge in declaratory
judgment and exclusionary zoning proceedings.
1. “Realistic opportunity”: It bears repeating that the
bedrock principle for determining whether a municipal
housing plan satisfies a municipality’s constitutional
housing obligations is whether a “realistic opportunity”
has been created for satisfying the obligations.
2. COAH Second Round Rules and COAH Handbook: As
the courts have invalidated significant parts of COAH’s
2004 and 2008 iterations of Third Round rules, the most
comprehensive, valid set of standards to guide preparation
and review of 2015 municipal housing plans are the COAH
Second Round Rules, published in the New Jersey
Administrative Code at N.J.A.C. 5:93. To introduce the
COAH process to local officials, guide planners and others
through its rules, assist the public in understanding how
a municipal housing plan is developed, and provide
sample ordinances and resolutions, COAH published a
Handbook from time-to-time. The 2001 edition of the
COAH Handbook, available from the Network as resource
to this guide, is a helpful companion to the Second Round
rules. Due to amendments to the Fair Housing Act and
changes in housing planning practice, the COAH Second
Round rules should be used cautiously. For example, such
changes include: elimination of “regional contribution
agreements,” requirements that certain affordable units
be accessible and adaptable, and use of the term
“supportive and special needs housing” (instead of the
out-of-date “alternative living arrangements”).
3. Site Suitability: A critical component of the “realistic
opportunity” evaluation is whether the sites proposed
for affordable housing development are suitable. In
Mount Laurel II, the Supreme Court established general
site suitability standards, although in the context of
builder’s remedy litigation, that are still valid decades
later: “… the proposed project ... [must be] ... located and
A VERY SPECIAL HOMES DEVELOPMENT
in Tenafly
Project Name: A Very Special Homes Development in Tenafly
Project Address: 311 Tenafly Road, Tenafly
Developer: Bergen County United Way /Madeline
Total Units: 6
Type & Tenure: Rental
Affordable Housing Set-Aside: 10 individuals with developmental disabilities.
Funding Sources: Bergen County’s United Way, Borough of Tenafly, Housing mortgage Finance Agency, County of Bergen,
Division of Community Development
The development of this project has received the support and praise of Tenafly, including the mayor. In speaking to the
Bergen Record, Mayor Peter Rustin said, “We have a lot of high functioning people with disabilities who don’t have a
place to live, a lot of people locally that have that need. This would go a long way to help a number of these people out.”
designed in accordance with sound zoning and planning
6. Incentives for Very Low Income Housing: Bonuses may
is only if the proposed development ... is contrary to
low income minimums, including half for families, in
concepts, including its environmental impact” and “It
sound planning principles, or represents a substantial
environmental hazard, that it should be denied.” COAH
rules have articulated these principles with more
precision, with a dozen site suitability criteria such as
be available for municipalities that exceed the 13% very
100% affordable housing, inclusionary developments,
and market to affordable housing restricted to very low
income households.
access to appropriate streets, compliance with flood
7. Inclusionary Developments: A minimum 20% set-aside
uses (see COAH Second Round rules, N.J.A.C. 5:93-5.3).
inclusionary developments within the jurisdiction of
hazard area constraints, and adjacent to compatible land
4. Minimum Rental Affordable Housing: COAH Second
Round rules require municipal housing plans to provide
for at least 25% of fair share obligations to be satisfied
by rental affordable housing.
5. Housing Affordable to Very Low Income Households:
Municipal housing plans must ensure that at least 13%
of the low and moderate income housing units made
available in a municipality are affordable to very low
income households. COAH Third Round rules and court
precedent require that at least half of those units must
be available to very low income families (i.e. 6.5% of all
low and moderate income units).
is required, to the extent economically feasible, in new
New Jersey’s regional planning agencies: Meadowlands
Commission, Pinelands Commission, Fort Monmouth
Economic Revitalization Planning Authority, and
Highlands Council. Throughout the state, municipalities
must provide, through their zoning powers, incentives
to ensure the economic feasibility of inclusionary
development, including increased densities and reduced
costs, and may in some cases include reduced set-asides.
COAH rules also require presumptive minimum gross
densities in built-up communities of six (6) units per
acre with a 20% set-aside. For rental housing, COAH
rules require a presumptive minimum gross density of
ten (10) units per acre with a 15% set-aside.
17
8. Minimum Family Housing: COAH Third Round rules
require municipal housing plans to provide that at least
50% of the housing addressing the fair share obligation
is for families, without age restrictions.
9. Senior Cap: Municipalities may include age-restricted
affordable housing in their housing plans, but only up
to a cap of 25% of municipal fair share housing obligations.
10. Incentives for Rental Affordable Housing: COAH
Second Round rules offer a bonus of one credit for every
rental affordable unit available to the general public
and one-third credit for age-restricted units. COAH Third
Round rules offer this bonus only for rental affordable
housing in excess of the minimum rental affordable
housing requirement. Also, this bonus is not available
retrospectively against Prior Round obligations if the
housing was not built within a reasonable period.
11. Smart Growth Bonus: COAH Third Round Rules offer
a bonus of one-third credit for each affordable housing
unit built in a Transit Oriented Development that is either
in Planning Area 1 (Metropolitan) or Planning Area 2
(Suburban) and in a “designated center” under the State
Development and Redevelopment Plan.
12. Redevelopment Bonus: COAH Third Round Rules offer
a bonus of one-third credit for each affordable housing
unit built in a designated redevelopment area or rehabilitation area established under the Local Redevelopment and Housing Law.
13. Bonus Caps: COAH rules provide that a municipality
may receive only one type of bonus for each affordable
unit and cap bonuses at 25% of both the Prior Round
and the Third Round obligation.
NONPROFIT MIXED HOUSING COLLABORATIONS
Project Name: Camp Kilmer Homes
Project Address: Truman Road, Edison
Developer: The project is being developed as part of a joint venture
between the Edison Housing Authority, Fort Lee-based for-profit
development company Albert Group, and Monarch Housing Associates,
an affordable housing advocacy and development nonprofit based in
Cranford. Triple C Housing will provide case management and support
services for the homeless units.
Total Units: 120 Type & Tenure: Rental apartments
Affordable Housing Set-Aside: 30 units of supportive housing for the homeless individuals.
Funding Sources: The project also is being financed through a $5 million New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance
Agency construction loan, $2.1 million NJHMFA permanent mortgage, $3.5 million NJHMFA Community Development
Block Grant multifamily restoration funding and $8.8 million from the sale of low-income housing tax credits. Included
in the funding is $10 million from Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds through the Fund for
Restoration of Multifamily Housing and the Superstorm Sandy Special Needs Housing Fund.
Description: The Kilmer Collaborative was established by the Middlesex County Continuum of Care, a organization
comprised of social service agencies serving the homeless. Kilmer Homes addressed a condition of the former military
base closure that 25% of affordable housing units be made available to the homeless.
18
MUNICIPAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Trust Funds and Development Fees Update
Since the late 1980s, municipalities have collected
development fees from residential and non-residential
development, which did not include affordable housing,
for the purpose of funding affordable housing activities.
Deposited in municipal housing trust funds, more than
$890 million has been collected and at least $337 million
has been spent, a flexible funding source that has helped
many municipalities address their fair share housing
obligations. Over time the fee schedule has increased
and is now 1.5% of the equalized assessed value of the
improvement for residential development, provided no
increase in density is permitted, and 2.5% of the equalized
assessed value of the improvement for nonresidential
development. During 2010-2013, a statewide moratorium
was in effect for the nonresidential fee.
In 2012, when municipalities had available balances of
about $252 million, the Governor proposed to seize and
redirect certain uncommitted funds to the state’s General
Fund, but the Appellate Division blocked that attempted
diversion. In an April 2015 decision, the Appellate Division
ruled that neither COAH nor any part of the executive
branch could take the funds. Instead, trial courts would
be responsible for reviewing and approving, on a caseby-case basis, municipal proposals to use local housing
trust funds to help nonprofits and developers build
affordable housing and expand housing opportunities
for low and moderate income households. NJ Spotlight,
an online news service, provides an interactive map on
its website with the estimated balances available in every
municipal housing trust fund as of 2012, the date of the
most recent data available from COAH.
PARTICIPATING IN MUNICIPAL
FAIR SHARE HOUSING PLANNING:
Action Steps
Nonprofit housing developers and advocates
have a special opening in 2015 and beyond to help
municipalities expand housing opportunities through
fair share housing planning, now that the Supreme
Court has put an end to years of delay and decisively
reinvigorated the process of determining, planning
for, and satisfying constitutional housing obligations
throughout New Jersey. To ensure that effective
municipal housing elements and fair share plans
are prepared, discussed openly, adopted, filed with
trial courts, reviewed, and approved, and vigorously
implemented, nonprofit housing developers and
advocates can and should take a variety of actions
step, including:
• Encourage municipalities to satisfy their fair share
housing obligations.
• Meet with planners, planning board members,
governing body members, and mayors to urge
compliance, propose options for municipal
consideration, and offer cooperation, support, and
partnerships.
• Attend and participate at local public meetings on
housing planning.
• Inquire what the municipal fair share housing
obligation is and how and when the municipality
intends to comply.
• Request that drafts of housing plans be available
for public review and comments, and be posted on
municipal websites.
• Participate at required planning board and governing
body public hearings on consideration of proposed
2015 housing elements and fair share plans.
• Pursue opportunities for municipally-sponsored
affordable housing development with nonprofit
partners.
• Encourage municipalities to establish realistic
timetables for actually getting affordable housing
built.
19
GREENFIELD INCLUSIONARY
RENTAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Laurel compliance.
• Monitor the review of fair share plans and
amendments filed with trial courts.
• Object, if necessary, to unrealistic, insufficient,
and inadequate provisions of housing elements
and fair share plans filed with trial courts and
participate, with the assistance of legal counsel, in
compliance proceedings before trial courts.
IMPACT OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING
on Communities and People’s Lives
The Avery is 450-unit, three-story, privatelydeveloped
inclusionary
rental
complex
of
townhouses and stacked flats on a greenfield site
fronting on U.S. Route 130 (10 Lincoln Square) in
Willingboro, Burlington County. Developed at a
density of 16 units/acre, the project is currently
(2015) 50% completed and occupied. Developed
by Weiss Properties under a settlement of Mount
Laurel builder’s remedy litigation, the community
has a 15% set-aside of rental affordable housing.
• Encourage municipalities to invest wisely local
housing trust funds in projects to produce
affordable housing, with bonding if necessary to
ensure projects are realistic.
• Encourage municipalities to provide incentives to
reduce the costs of and increase the likelihood of
developing affordable housing, such as waivers
or reductions of municipal fees, early and truly
expedited processing of development applications
by planning boards and zoning boards of
adjustment, use of local housing trust funds,
payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs), timely triggers
for municipal resolutions of intent to bond if
sufficient other public subsidies are not available.
• Encourage municipalities to meet deadlines for
filing declaratory judgments to establish Mount
20
A recent Princeton University study of a 100% affordable
housing development in suburban New Jersey found
that affordable housing in communities of higher
opportunity had dramatic positive impacts on residents’
mental health, personal safety, and economic
independence. Children had more parental support for
academics, could study more per week with a quiet
place to study, experienced less school disorder and
violence, and attended better, more competitive schools,
with no overall effect on their grades. These housing
opportunities had no adverse effect on crime in the
community, municipal property taxes, property values
in the community, and specifically property values in
adjacent neighborhoods. See Douglas S. Massey, et al.,
Climbing Mount Laurel: The Struggle for Affordable
Housing and Social Mobility in an American Suburb,
Princeton University Press, 2013.
CONCLUSION
New Jersey’s Mount Laurel doctrine makes the state a
national leader in breaking down the barriers of
exclusionary zoning and producing affordable housing.
After a decade plus of fits and starts and delays, the
Supreme Court has now charted a path towards
widespread, renewed compliance with the doctrine. The
state’s affordable housing needs are significant,
throughout the state in all types of communities. The
renewed municipal fair share planning unleashed by
the Court provides important opportunities to meet that
need and realize the vision of the Mount Laurel doctrine
and the Fair Housing Act.
RESOURCES
(available on Network website: www.hcdnnj.org/njfairhousing)
A. New Jersey Supreme Court decision, In re N.J.A.C. 5:96 and 5:97, 221 N.J. 1 (2015)
The Supreme Court’s unanimous decision reaffirmed the Mount Laurel Doctrine, declared COAH to be
“moribund,” and created a process for municipalities to “… subject themselves to judicial review for
constitutional compliance, as was the case before the Fair Housing Act was enacted.”
Here is the link the full decision: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/nj-supreme-court/1694079.html
B. Municipal Summary, Fair Share Housing Obligations, 2015
This is a list by municipality of present need, 2010, prior round obligation, 1987-1999 and third round net
prospective need, 1999-2025, developed by Fair Share Housing Center. It must be noted that no trial or
appellate court has yet (April 2015) accepted these fair share calculations.
https://hcdnnj.memberclicks.net/assets/documents/njfh%20kinsey%202015%20report%20for%20fshc%20
on%20fair%20share%20obligations%201999-2025%20-%204-16-15.pdf AND
https://hcdnnj.memberclicks.net/assets/documents/njfh%20municipal%20summary%202015.pdf
C. COAH Handbook 2001 – COAH wrote the handbook “to introduce elected and appointed municipal officials
to the COAH process; b. to guide planners and other professionals through the procedural and substantive
rules of COAH; c. to assist the general public in understanding how an affordable housing plan is developed.”
While a historical document, it is still relevant because it explains COAH’s Second Round rules, N.J.A.C. 5:93,
which mostly remain valid and in place as municipalities prepare 2015 housing elements and fair share plans.
https://hcdnnj.memberclicks.net/assets/documents/njfh%202001%20coah%20handbook_001.pdf
D. New Jersey Spotlight, Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Funds, interactive map:
http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/15/04/09/affordable-housing-trust-funds/
This interactive map of COAH data provides, by municipality, municipal affordable housing trust fund balances
as of July 2012 and the number of affordable housing units completed in COAH’s first two rounds
E. Together North Jersey Regional Fair Housing & Equity Assessment, March 2015:
http://togethernorthjersey.com/?page_id=16936
This report provides an analysis of segregation, racial and ethnic concentrations of poverty, access to
places of high “opportunity,” distribution of recent infrastructure investments and explores other regulatory
and private market barriers to fair housing choice in the 13-county North Jersey Transportation Planning
Authority region of New Jersey.
F. Together North Jersey “Housing Baseline Assessment Report” written by Alan Mallach for
the Housing Community Development Network of New Jersey
http://togethernorthjersey.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Baseline+Housing+Report_final.pdf
Copyright 2015. All Rights Reserved.
HOUSING and COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
NETWORK of NEW JERSEY
145 West Hanover Street | Trenton, NJ 08618
P (609) 393-3752 | F (609) 393-9016
info@hcdnnj.org
HCDNNJ.ORG

Developing Effective Municipal Housing Plans

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